AstraZeneca vaccines arriving March 4 – Sen. Go

By MARIO B. CASAYURAN, ARGYLL CYRUS B. GEDUCOS, and MARTIN A. SADONGDONG

Some 487,200 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines will be arriving in the country at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 4.

Senator Christopher “Bong” Go said President Duterte and he will meet the vaccine shipment.

Go, chairman of the Senate health and demography committee, failed to state where the vaccines would be unloaded.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said President Duterte is ready to welcome the fresh batch of coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines in the country.

“AstraZeneca’s expected time of arrival is based on

the scheduled handover of vaccines. We will notify everyone, if and when there is a change of schedule,” he said Wednesday afternoon.

Roque said President Duterte wants to be present during the delivery of the vaccine so he could personally thank the World Health Organization (WHO) that heads the Covax Facility, and British Ambassador to the Philippines Daniel Pruce.

“Talagang itong papasok po at darating na Covax Facility allocation ng AstraZeneca ay dahil po sa intercession ni Ambassador Pruce ng United Kingdom (The delivery of the allocated AstraZeneca vaccines from the Covax Facility is possible through the intercession of Ambassador Pruce of the UK),” he said.

“Sana po ay tuloy-tuloy na po ang pagro-rollout ng pagbabakuna at dapat nating kunin ang kumpyansa ng mamamayan na ang tanging solusyon, ang tanging susi ay ang bakuna lamang para unti-unti na tayong makabalik sa normal nating pamumuhay. (I hope that this signals a continuing vaccine rollout and vaccination as we try to get the trust of our countrymen for the vaccines that are the keys to the gradual normalization of our lives),” Go said.

Galvez tempers expectations Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., vaccine czar and chief implementer of the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19, could not confirm if vaccines from BritishSwedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca will finally be delivered on March 4.

“I cannot confirm yet kasi dalawang beses na kaming nakuryente dyan (I cannot confirm yet because we got the wrong information twice already),” he said after witnessing the vaccine rollout at St. Luke's Medical Center-Global City in Taguig City.

During the vaccine rollout, around 100 medical frontliners from St. Luke's Medical Center in Global City and Quezon City took the vaccine shots from China's Sinovac Biotech Ltd. They were led by Dr. Arturo Dela Peña, the hospital's chief executive.

Galvez said that he will only be sure that the AstraZeneca jabs will be delivered once the shipment leaves its manufacturing site in Belgium.

“Ang ano namin, kapag lumipad na ang aircraft sa Belgium, that's the time that we can confirm (For us, once the aircraft from Belgium leaves [for delivery], that's the time that we can confirm),” he said.

The delivery of the AstraZeneca vaccines were supposed to take place last Monday in time for the national government's vaccine rollout, but Galvez said it was delayed due to supply shortage and logistical problems.